Union in the Media

Work by Fernando Orellana, associate professor of visual arts, is currently on display at the Carrie Haddad Gallery in Hudson, N.Y. “Playful” features his work titled “Population,” which has thousands of miniature people, houses and cows made by an extruder. The work follows closely to Orellana’s concepts that range from generative art to social and political commentary. The exhibit runs through Sept. 21.

Nicholas Webb, visiting assistant professor of computer science, was featured in a story on WNYT about his summer robotics program at local libraries and schools. Geared toward getting girls interested in technology, the program introduced students to different kinds of robots and how to program them with computers.

An exhibit featuring the work of Charles Steckler, professor of theater and resident scenic designer, recently wrapped up at the Schenectady Jewish Community Center. “Shadow Box Dioramas” was on display throughout the summer in the center’s Finkle Display Case.

Michael Vineyard, the Frank and Marie Louise Bailey Professor of Physics, presented a paper, “Characterization of Atmospheric Aerosols in the Adirondack Mountains Using PIXE, SEM/EDX, and Micro-Raman Spectroscopies,” at the 23rd Conference on Application of Accelerators in Research and Industry in San Antonio, Texas. His co-authors are Scott LaBrake, senior lecturer and accelerator manager, Salina Ali ‘15, Benjamin Nadareski '16, Alexandrea Safiq '14, Jeremy Smith ‘14 and Joshua Yoskowitz '16.

Ann Fleming Brown, director of Admissions, has been appointed chair of the Board of Trustees at Schenectady County Community College. She has ben on the board since 2010, and will oversee the institution’s presidential search. Read more about her appointment and the search in an article by The Business Review here.

McFarland Press published a book by Denis Brennan, lecturer in history. “The Making of an Abolitionist: William Lloyd Garrison’s Path to Publishing The Liberator” was published this summer, and talks about the prominent American abolitionist and social reformer. Learn more about the book here.

David Cotter, professor and chair of the Sociology Department, was lead author on a research brief published for the Council on Contemporary Families chronicling the restarting of the "stalled revolution" in gender attitudes. The report was mentioned in the Washington Post "She the People" blog, a New York Times op-ed and dozens of other media outlets. Read the Washington Post story here.

Research by Don Rodbell, professor of geology, was featured in a piece in the August issue of GSA Today, a publication for the Geological Society of America. Along with his co-authors, he discussed the contamination of the Lake Junin National Reserve in Peru by acid mine drainage from the Cerro de Pasco mining district.

Promotions:

Congratulations to the faculty members who were promoted as of Sept. 1:

Promotion to full professor:

Bradford Bruno, Mechanical Engineering; Barbara Danowski, Biology; Tomas Dvorak, Economics; William Keat, Mechanical Engineering; Robert Lauzon, Biology; Stephen Leavitt(effective 9/12), Anthropology.

Promotion to associate professor with tenure:

Claire Bracken, English; Joshua Hart, Psychology; Bunkong Tuon, English

Promotion to senior lecturer:

Brian Cohen, Biology

Minerva Faculty Representatives for 2014-15:

This year’s Minerva Faculty Representatives are as follows:

Beuth House: Ellen Foster

Breazzano House: Kristin Bidoshi

Golub House: Hans Mueller

Green House: Linda Cool

Messa House: Gail Golderman

Sorum House: Laura Persico (fall) and Jennifer Matsue (winter and spring)

Wold House: Peter Bedford

Department Chair and Program Director appointments:

This year we welcome the following chairs and directors who are starting new appointments:

Zoe Oxley, American Studies (thanks to Lorraine Cox for her term of service)

Karen Brison, Anthropology (thanks to Linda Cool for her term of service)

Junko Ueno, Asian Studies (thanks to Jennifer Matsue for her term of service)

Helen Hanson, Bioengineering (co-chair with Scott Kirkton; thanks to Shane Cotter for his term of service as co-chair)

Rob Lauzon, Biology (thanks to Leo Fleischman for his service last year)

Kristin Fox, Chemistry (thanks to Mike Hagerman for his term of service)

Tomas Dvorak, Economics (thanks to Younghwan Song for his a term of service)

Mark Walker, History (thanks to Joyce Madancy, who filled in for two terms last year)

Kathryn Lesh, Mathematics (thanks to Alan Taylor for his many years of service and to Paul Friedman, Julius Barbanel, and Karl Zimmermann for their service in the spring)

Ann Anderson, Mechanical Engineering (thanks to Brad Bruno for his term of service)

David Ogawa, Visual Arts (thanks to Chris Duncan, who filled in last year)

Faculty Director Appointments:

The following is a summer of the part-time academic director appointments held by faculty members:

Director of Advising, Brian Cohen (expiring 8/31/15)

Director of Assessment, Stephen Schmidt (expiring 8/31/16)

Director of Engineering, Shane Cotter (expiring 8/31/2016)

Director of Faculty Development, Lorraine Cox (expiring 8/31/17)

Director of General Education, John Cramsie (expiring 8/31/2017)

Director of Interdisciplinary Programs, Jennifer Matsue (expiring 8/31/16)

Director of Undergraduate Research, Rebecca Cortez (expiring 8/31/17)

Christopher Chabris, associate professor of psychology, reviewed The Organized Mind by Daniel J. Levitin for the Wall Street Journal.

Chabris and Daniel J. Simons, a psychology professor at the University of Illinois, are the authors of The Invisible Gorilla, And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us. Now in paperback, the book, tackles “six everyday illusions that profoundly influence our lives: the illusions of attention, memory, confidence, knowledge, cause, and potential.”

To read the review, click here.

Brad Hays, associate professor of political science, was a recent guest on "Congressional Corner" on WAMC, Northeast Public Radio.

Northeast Public Radio is a member of National Public Radio serving parts of seven northeastern states: New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.

Bridget Graham, assistant director for employee relations at Becker Career Center, recently spoke with the Times Union about how recent college graduates can make a good first impression during a job interview.

To read the story, click here.

To raise awareness for ALS, President Stephen C. Ainlay recently accepted the ice bucket challenge from his son, Jesse.

Several local television stations showed up in front of the Nott Memorial for the event.

David Cotter, professor and chair of the Sociology Department, was lead author on a research brief published for the Council on Contemporary Families chronicling the restarting of the "stalled revolution" in gender attitudes.

The report was mentioned in the Washington Post "She the People" blog, a New York Times op-ed and dozens of other media outlets.

To read the Post article, click here.

Sixty-four photographic works by Martin Benjamin, professor of visual arts, are on view at the Albany Institute of History and Art through Sept. 7 as part of the exhibition “Summer Exposure.” Benjamin’s selected photos represent different periods in his artistic career, from the documentary images of his American Road Trips series shot during the early 1970s to the more recent color diptychs of Vietnam and Italy that allow him to pair images and show “uniformity within diversity.” Also featured are photographs from his street photography, public events and Atomic Age series, as well as individual images set in China and Cuba. Most are vintage prints, and many are gelatin silver prints. “Summer Exposure” offers five uniquely different ventures into photographic vision, media and artistic conception, with works by Carolyn Blackwood, Tom Fels, Dana Hoey and William Jaeger, as well.

Eric McDowell, assistant athletic director for sports information, has been named president of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) for the 2014-15 academic year. He is a 2009 CoSIDA Hall of Fame Inductee and its 59th president. McDowell took over the leadership position at the organization’s annual convention in June.

Andrew Morris, associate professor of history, presented his paper, “Trailer Cities: The Truman Administration and Disaster Relief, 1947-52,” on a panel at the 2014 Policy History Conference in June in Columbus, Ohio. The paper is research from Morris’ larger project on Hurricane Camille and post-World War II disaster relief policy in the U.S. He also chaired a panel at the same conference on “Re-Evaluating the Place of the Federal Housing Administration in American History.”

Tina Lincer, associate director of Communications and Marketing, was a featured reader in a Bloomsday celebration at the Rensselaer County Historical Society in Troy last month. She joined six other writers, including Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Kennedy, in reading selections from James Joyce’s novel, "Ulysses."

This summer, Union again hosted the EDGE workshop, a two-week engineering camp for talented high school girls.

The Times Union stopped by for presentations made by the class.

To view a photo gallery, click here.

John Rieffel, assistant professor of computer science, talked about the College's new 3-D printer in an interview with U.S. News and World Report.

Housed in the Collaborative Design Studio in the basement of the Wold Center, the printer was purchased through a grant from the National Science Foundation.

To read the story, click here.